Basic OT Change Model playbook

  • Release version: Yokohama
  • Updated January 30, 2025
  • 2 minutes to read
    • Summarize
    Summarized using AI
    This content was generated using new OpenAI-powered functionality. Results are provided on an as is basis and are not guaranteed to be accurate or complete.

    Summary of Basic OT Change Model playbook

    The Basic Operational Technology (OT) Change Model playbook guides ServiceNow customers through the lifecycle of an OT change that does not require approvals. It outlines the sequential stages—Initiate, Plan, Implement, and Close—that ensure proper documentation, scheduling, execution, and closure of OT changes.

    Show full answer Show less

    Initiate

    This initial stage captures essential details about the requested change and assigns responsibility. Key tasks include:

    • Describe the change: Provide a short description, detailed explanation, change category, site location, and specify watch and work notes lists for notifications.
    • Capture risk: Define priority, risk level, and impact on industrial processes to assess urgency and potential effects.
    • Assign the change: Identify the requester, assignment group (must be OT type), and individual assigned to perform the change.

    Plan

    This stage focuses on preparing for the change by adding detailed plans and scheduling:

    • Justification: Explain why the change is necessary.
    • Implementation plan: Outline how the change will be executed.
    • Risk and impact analysis: Document any risks and impacts related to the change.
    • Backout plan: Define steps to reverse the change if required.
    • Test plan: Describe how the change will be tested post-implementation.
    • Schedule the change: Set planned start and end dates. The Scheduling Assistant tool can help select available downtime slots automatically.

    Implement

    In this stage, the change is executed on targeted OT devices. Completion of the implementation task marks this stage as finished.

    Close

    After successful implementation, the change record is formally closed by specifying a close code and any additional notes regarding the closure.

    Learn about the Basic Operational Technology (OT) Change Model playbook stages that an OT change without approvals must go through until it’s completed.

    Initiate

    The Initiate stage of an OT change request lets you capture the details of the requested change and assign the change as necessary. This stage has three tasks.
    Table 1. Describe the change
    Field Description
    Short description Brief description of the change.
    Description Details of the change.
    Category Type of change.
    Site Site where the change takes place.
    Watch list Users who receive notifications about this change when comments are added.
    Work notes list Users who receive notifications about this change when work notes are added.
    Table 2. Capture risk
    Field Description
    Priority Impact and urgency to identify how quickly the change should be addressed.
    Risk Amount of risk that the change poses.
    Impact Measure of the effect that a change has on your industrial processes.
    Table 3. Assign the change
    Field Description
    Requested by User who requests the change.
    Assignment group Assigned group that works on the change. The assignment group can be any group with the type OT.
    Assigned to User who works on this change. If the assignment group changes, the Assigned to field is cleared.

    Plan

    The Plan stage of an OT Change request lets you add a justification for the change, an implementation plan, a risk and impact plan, a backout plan, a test plan, and a time to schedule the change. This stage has six tasks.

    Table 4. Add a justification
    Field Description
    Justification Reason why the change must take place.
    Table 5. Add implementation plan
    Field Description
    Implementation plan Details of how to implement the requested change.
    Table 6. Add risk and impact analysis
    Field Description
    Risk and impact analysis Details of any risk and impact factors that are related to this change.
    Table 7. Add backout plan
    Field Description
    Backout plan Details of how to reverse the change in place if necessary.
    Table 8. Add test plan
    Field Description
    Test plan Details of how to test the implemented change.
    Table 9. Schedule the change
    Field Description
    Planned start date Date that the change takes place.
    Note:
    You can also choose an available downtime slot on the calendar by selecting the Scheduling Assistant button to fill in the planned start date field automatically.
    Planned end date Date that the change ends.
    Note:
    You can also choose an available downtime slot on the calendar by selecting the Scheduling Assistant button to fill in the planned end date field automatically.

    Implement

    The Implement stage of an OT change request provides the details of the following task. You can mark this stage as complete when it's finished.

    Perform the change
    Mark as complete when the change is performed on the targeted OT devices and completed.

    Close

    The Close stage lets you close the change record after the change is completed.
    Table 10. Close the change record
    Field Description
    Close code Reason that the change record was closed.
    Close notes Additional details about closing the change record.